The present invention relates to rice ball wrappers comprising an inner film, an outer film and a sheet of food, such as a sheet of seaweed, sandwiched between the two films, and rice ball packages prepared by enclosing a rice ball in the wrapper.
Cooked rice is molded with the hands into round, triangular or cylindrical shapes to prepare xe2x80x9conigirixe2x80x9d or rice balls. Such cooked rice moldings are herein referred to as xe2x80x9crice balls.xe2x80x9d
With reference to FIG. 21, wrappers of the type mentioned comprise a rectangular outer film 1, an inner film 2 composed of two film pieces 21, 21 and a sheet of seaweed 8 sandwiched between the two films.
To prepare a rice ball package with use of the wrapper, cooked rice is molded into a triangular shape to obtain a triangular rice ball 4, on which the wrapper 5 is placed. The triangular rice ball 4 is then enclosed in the wrapper 5 while folding the wrapper 5 downward along the three sides of the rice ball 4.
The overlapping four corners of the wrapper 5 are folded over onto the rear side of the rice ball, and the resulting laps are thermally bonded or fastened with a seal 7 shown in FIG. 23.
To eat the rice ball, a tab 11 formed at the vertex of front surface of the rice ball package is pulled to the base of the triangular rice ball to tear the outer film 1 as shown in FIG. 22, the tab 11 is further pulled toward the vertex on the rear surface of the package to tear the outer film 1 longitudinally thereof. The opposite outer film portions torn apart are thereafter pulled away from each other laterally.
The film pieces 21, 21 of the inner film 2 of FIG. 21 are also pulled apart laterally along with the opposite outer film portions and removed from the triangular rice ball 4, whereby the triangular rice ball 4 is covered directly with the sheet of seaweed 8.
However, the conventional rice ball package has the following problems.
It is likely that a label 7 bearing the commodity name or the like printed thereon will be affixed to the outer film 1 as shown in FIG. 23. In this case, a tearing piece 12 in the form of a narrow strip and formed by pulling the tab 11 encounters resistance when moving past the label 7 and is thereby made narrower to become torn off while being pulled, failing to divide the outer film in two into opposite portions. Thus , frequently experienced is the problem that the package can not be opened smoothly.
It is also likely that the three corners of the rice ball package shown in FIG. 22 are sealed off by thermal bonding to prevent ingress of extraneous matter into the package from outside. However, the tab 11 will then be bonded, presenting difficulty in separating the outer film into two opposite side portions. Especially when the rice ball package has the label 7 affixed to the outer film 1, the film is difficult to divide into two opposite side portions.
An object of the present invention is to provide a wrapper which is free of the foregoing problems and a rice ball package prepared with use of the wrapper.
The present invention provides a wrapper which comprises an outer film 1, an inner film 2 and a sheet of food 8 sandwiched between the two films. The inner film 2 comprises two film pieces 21, 21 having opposed sides lapping over each other approximately at the widthwise midportion of the wrapper as shown in FIG. 2. The outer film 1 is provided, approximately at the longitudinal and widthwise central portion thereof, with tabs 9, 9 for tearing the film symmetrically from the central portion to respective longitudinal opposite ends thereof. The tabs 9 are formed by an incision 90 made in the film 1 through the thickness thereof.
To package a triangular rice ball 4 with the wrapper, the rice ball 4 is so positioned relative to the wrapper that approximately at the central portion of the wrapper, one side of the triangular rice ball 4 is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the wrapper. The rice ball 4 is so enclosed in the wrapper that the lap 20 of the film pieces 21, 21 of the inner film 2 extends from the vertex of the rice ball 4 toward the midportion of the side opposite to the vertex.
A label 7 is affixed to the outer film 1 across the direction in which the tab 9 is to be torn. The distance L from the label 7 to the vertex of the triangular rice ball 4 is shorter than the distance Ll from the vertex of the rice ball 4 to the midportion of the side thereof opposite to the vertex (see FIG. 3).
The tabs 9, 9 for tearing the outer film 1 are provided at the approximate longitudinal midportion of the film, and the rice ball 4 is so packaged with the wrapper that one side of the rice ball is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the wrapper at the approximate longitudinal midportion thereof. Accordingly when the rice ball package is displayed in an upright position with the triangular surfaces thereof positioned respectively as the front and rear sides thereof, the tabs 9 are out of sight, as positioned on the bottom side of the package. The tabs 9 therefore will not impair the appearance of the rice ball package.
Further when such rice ball packages are to be placed on sale, the packages are so displayed that the tabs 9 are positioned on the bottom side of the package. The ingress of the outside air through the incision 90 forming the tabs 9 can then be prevented to protect the sheet of food 8 from moisture.
When the rice ball is to be eaten, the tabs 9, 9 of the rice ball package are pulled toward the vertex of the package on the front and rear sides thereof.
In the case where a label 7 is affixed to each of the front and rear surfaces of the rice ball package, the label is likely to offer resistance to the tearing of the outer film of the package by the tab 9. However, since the distance L from the label 7 to the vertex of the package is small, a tear extends to the vertex before an extension of the tab 9 is torn off during tearing, dividing the outer film 1 into two opposite side portions.
When the divided portions of the outer film 1 are pulled away from each other laterally, the film pieces 21, 21 of the inner film 2 are pulled along with the divided outer film portions, slipping out from between the sheet of food 8 and the rice ball 4 to become removed from the rice ball 4, whereby the rice ball 4 is covered directly with the sheet of food 8.
With reference to FIG. 14, the present invention provides another rice ball package prepared with use of a wrapper 5. The wrapper 5 comprises an outer film 1 having a discrete incision 15 formed in an approximate widthwise midportion thereof and extending over the entire length of the film 1 longitudinally thereof, and an intermediate film 3 interposed between the outer film 1 and a sheet of food 8 and extending beneath the discrete incision 15 of the outer film 1. The wrapper 5 has a cut portion 16 formed by cutting off a corner and to be finally folded over a triangular surface of a triangular rice ball.
As shown in FIG. 18, a label 7 is provided at opposite ends of the rear surface thereof with respective adhesive layers 73, 73, one of which is fitted over the cut portion 16 of the wrapper 5. The label 7 is centrally formed with a discrete incision 74 in alignment with the incision 15 of the outer film 1. The wrapper 5 is sealed at ear portions 19, 19, 19 projecting outward from the respective three vertices of the triangular rice ball 4.
These ear portions 19 of the rice ball package, which are sealed,.diminish the likelihood of extraneous matter ingressing into the package through the ear portions 19.
The outer film 1 has the discrete incision 15, so that when the two ear portions 19, 19 positioned on opposite sides of the incision 15 are pulled outward away from each other with the hands, the outer film 1 and the inner film 2 are subjected to forces acting thereon to separate these films in opposite directions widthwise thereof. These forces will not act on the sheet of food 8 since the ear portions 19, 19 have no portion of the food sheet 8 incorporated therein, and the triangular rice ball is covered directly with the sheet of food 8.
Thus, the rice ball package can be opened by the single action of pulling the opposite ear portions 19, 19 outward.